APRIL 14th, 2015
8:13am:
The singing of the birds eased Shinji back into the real world as he recollected his thoughts. 'Oh yeah, I'm here...' He thought, sighing to himself. The company had hidden away in an old stripped post office for the night, needing some sleep.
The company came across it an hour after leaving the bridge, the front of the building reading "Matsuyama Furukawa Post Office". Most of the company were able to fit on the second floor, though some troops had to find space to sleep in on the stairs.
Shinji couldn't have imagined he would be able to sleep like he did after having witnessed last night's battle; The combination of shock and paranoia had messed with his head plenty over the night, and kept him up at first. Luckily, his body was absolutely drained and couldn't take anymore.
He had knocked out from sheer exhaustion. Once he woke back up though, his mind immediately flashed back to the images of the bodies he'd encountered. The maggot-filled one especially. He felt a chill go down his back, remembering the maggots that had stuck to his uniform.
He looked down at his combat suit, now discolored with a tinge of light brown. The mud seeped into the cloth and dried up, so the suit's camouflage function was most likely damaged. 'I really hope I don't have to pay for this.' He thought.
The company had chose the second floor of the post office to bunk for the night. That way, if an enemy happened to be around, Eagle Company would be on higher ground to shoot at them from.
Shinji looked out the window, the sun finally giving him a clear picture of what the city looked like. He couldn't tell what the city looked like upon entering it, as all power had been cut in the area.
Looking around, he thought that the look of the city was interesting. Lots of small buildings, most of them being two floors at best. There was very little debris in the streets, making it clear that the Angels were focusing their attacks on the city's more vital parts.
Most of Eagle Company were still asleep, with only about 7 other troops were up. One of them was Asuka, who was busy reading the document she received at Alpha Company's camp last night.
Judging by her messy hair, Shinji assumed she had gotten up not too long ago. She was really focused on the pieces of paper she was reading. 'Must be important.' He thought.
The folder the papers came in had a large red stamp on it, reading; CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. He payed close attention to Asuka's facial expressions, wanting to see if he could get any idea on what it might've been about.
Asuka looked really serious as she read the thing, and finally finished. She folded the sheets of paper and placed it back into the folder. She looked out of the window she was closest to, letting out a frustrated sigh.
He couldn't glean anything from her reaction and decided it was best he didn't know, anyway. His father wrote it, after all. Anything that related to his father made Shinji's blood boil.
'Forget him! Just, distract yourself or something...' He thought, trying not to get caught up in his troubled passed again. He looked around the room, trying to find something to take his mind off of his father.
His eyes came upon Rei, sleeping with her head resting on her utility pouch. The sunlight shone directly on her, making her turn the other way to avoid the rays hitting her eyes, even though they were closed.
Shinji was cautious not to look too much, knowing it would be awkward if anyone, especially Rei, were to catch him. The way the sunlight lit her blue hair reminded Shinji of the ocean.
It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. She carried such a different feel from everyone else he had met. And of course, there was still that strange feeling of familiarity he had around her.
"Morning, Shinji." Whispered Kensuke, having just woken up. "Hey Kensuke. Sleep well?" He asked. "As well as anyone can in a place like this..." He said, realizing he slept in a bad position due to the pain in his left shoulder.
Kensuke reached for his canteen, his throat feeling a little dry. "How long are we gonna be out here for?" Asked Shinji, looking noticeably worried. "Oh yeah, I forgot... You're not used to tours, are you?" He asked.
Shinji shook his head, having only been sent on Unit-01's classified mission up the Seikatsu River. "Yeah, tours are a little more scary, so it's okay for you to feel that way. But, we're gonna be here until we've cleared the Angels out or we're called back to HQ." He answered.
This was partly why Asuka was so angered by being relegated into being in a company. Not only did she feel she was being subtly told she wasn't good enough to lead on her own, but she liked that they were usually immediately sent home after completing a mission.
Tours meant that any unit, company, or battalion were to claim territory and stand their ground by patrolling the sections they were ordered to guard. Some tours could last weeks, or even months if the situation was really bad.
"I haven't been on a tour in a long while, man. It's how I started." He said. "After I was denied pilot training, I was introduced to my first unit; Unit-21. Really cool people, all very laid back." He explained.
"After a few months, I was highly regarded as a demolitions man. That's why the Commander ordered me to be on his 'elite unit of fighters'; the ever-so-famous Unit-01." He added.
"So you're here because you're really good?" He asked, realizing his choice of words could be mistaken for an insult. "I mean, not that I'm doubting you or anything, it's ju-" "Don't worry about it. I know what you meant." Said Kensuke.
"I was just wondering 'cuz... well, I was assigned to Unit-01. Me. And I'm by no means an exceptional fighter... I was trained by some weird machinery, for god's sake..." Said Shinji.
"Yeah... no offense, but no one here actually knows why you were assigned. Don't get me wrong, Toji and I love having you here, man. Any friend in a conflict like this is family. But, yeah... I'm surprised you weren't assigned to be a standard infantryman." Replied Kensuke.
"Hmph, I agree with them." He said, wondering why his dad placed him in this elite unit.
COMMANDER IKARI'S OFFICE:
Gendo was busy typing a load of letters to send to each unit's C.O, all commands or battle plans. With the radio signals still jammed by the Angels, commands weren't getting through as efficiently.
On the left side of his table, stood a large pile of folders, each addressed to a different C.O. from a unit and/or company. Every time he finished a letter, he took just a few minutes off to rest.
He eyed the picture frame near the edge his desk, reaching for it. He brushed the finger smudges off the glass with his glove, making sure the picture looked absolutely perfect.
"Reminiscing again, Commander?" Asked Fuyutsuki, looking up from his newspaper. "Just taking a little breather. There are many letters that have yet to be sent out. I'll be getting back to them in just a moment." He said.
He looked back at the picture, his attention absorbed by it. It was as if the all-mighty Commander of NERV had been hypnotized by an image, completely lost in his own little world for just a moment.
He placed the picture frame back where it usually stood, not wanting to spend too much time off his work. As he got back into the mindset of work, he placed his hands above his keypad.
Just as he opened a new document on his computer, the phone on his desk beeped repeatedly. He clicked the mic button and leaned in closer to it. "This is Commander Ikari."
"Dr. Akagi here, Commander. We may have found a way to restore the radio signals, may I come up to discuss the battle proposals?" She asked. "Permission granted. Come up, Doctor." He said, removing his finger from the button.
Gendo closed his laptop and placed it in his drawer, freeing up space on his desk. "Fuyutsuki, I must ask you to leave. There are classified subjects Dr. Akagi and I must discuss." He said.
"Yes sir, I'll get going." Replied the older man, getting up from his chair. "Also, take these to the mail shoot. They are ready to be sent out." He said, as he grabbed the picture frame he was looking at and faced it down.
Fuyutsuki noticed this, but didn't question it. "I shall do that, sir." He said, picking up a pack of folders as he made his way to the elevator. As he approached the door, it opened, revealing Ritsuko waiting inside.
"Good morning, Fuyutsuki. Taking up mailman duties today?" She asked playfully. "Just taking this down to have the troops deliver it." He said. "See you around, Doctor." He finished, entering the elevator just as she left it.
Behind her, the elevator door closed. She brought with her lots of paper (all typed up with loads of information) and a laptop of her own, just to more easily detail the battle plans to Gendo.
"We have spotted what appears to be a standard radio tower not too far from Eagle Company's current location. I ran a scan through the area and found signals that are very well known to jam radio waves are especially concentrated there." She explained.
"So we think some Angels might be camping out there, manipulating our communications from within. We can send Eagle Company to ambush it if we can confirm there are actual Angels in there." He said.
"We'll have to lure them out, though. Have you written your letter to Unit-01 already?" Asked the Doctor. "Only last night's letters. I can send another one shortly, it shouldn't take long." He said, as he removed his gloves and began to unbutton his jacket.
"We can wait on that in the meantime." Said the Commander, still looking the opposite direction. Ritsuko grinned, closing her laptop and putting it down.
10:37am:
Toji stared inquisitively at the mailboxes. Some of them were already opened. Either who previously owned it had abandoned the box (due to the city being evacuated) or someone looted it while everyone else was busy escaping.
He reached for his combat knife and stuck it in the lock, attempting to force it open. It was not that hard at all, and soon he was rummaging through a few other mailboxes.
"Toji, what are doing?" Asked Shinji, watching Toji steal old mail. "I'm just curious. I mean who would it be hurtin' anyway? No one's livin' 'ere anymore." He replied.
"I mean I guess you're right... but it's still dumb." Said Shinji. "Dumb? How's it dumb? S'not like anyone's comin' back 'ere anyway, so whatev!" He said, throwing Shinji a few letters to read on his own. "Aren't ya just a bit curious, man?" Asked Toji.
Shinji sighed, knowing any argument of his would be useless. He looked at the letters, and the curiosity got to him. "Guess so..." He answered, not really sure as to why he didn't give them back.
Most of Eagle Company had been awake by now, either chatting with their friends or just waiting, bored out of their minds. Shinji sat himself down next to the lockers Toji was breaking into.
He pulled out his first letter, addressed to a 'Akemi Inoue', having been sent from NERV HQ. 'This is from NERV... Is this a draft notice?' He wondered. After opening the slip, he unfolded the sheet of paper that had been inside.
It was just a normal, somewhat crumpled sheet of lined paper, handwriting filling most of the page. 'Oh, a troop must've sent this to a loved one.' Shinji thought, realizing this letter was from a person who carried the same duty as he.
He read quietly to himself, looking to find out what this letter was all about. As he continued to read, he found that it was nothing more then a simple love letter from a serving troop to his girlfriend.
Shinji noticed the way this boy talked to his significant other, finding his openness to her very genuine. He admired that about him, having never been very good at opening up to others.
It was something he had just began doing, even if it was a little. And though opening up had helped him become closer to his friends, deep down he feared they would turn their backs on him sooner or later.
No matter who it was or how things were between them, he felt that way about everybody at some point. Realizing his thoughts had trailed off, he continued to read the letter.
Having read the letter some more, he discovered that the boy had also been forcibly moved to Tokyo-3 just like he had been. He probably hadn't seen his girlfriend in a long time and was writing back to his hometown.
It made the letter all the more tragic, as this place was merely a shell of what it was before. He wondered if the boy would cry at the sight of his city, all abandoned. The very war he had fought in to keep his family and friends safe had invaded his home.
The letter no longer carried a sweet act of compassion, it now only reminded Shinji of the terrifying reality of their situation. He decided he wouldn't want to read the rest and put the paper down.
He looked over at the rest of the letters, not knowing if he would even open them now. 'Why should I even keep these? They're just a distraction.' He thought. 'Though, it does kill time when we're off patrol duty..."
He placed the rest of his letters in his pouch and rested his head against the lockers behind him. After a few minutes of looking upward at the ceiling, Shinji was completely lost in his own spaced-out world.
"Hello Ikari." Said Rei, staring down at the boy. "Good morning, Ayanami. Did you just get up?" He asked. "I woke up some 15 minutes ago. How are you feeling?" She asked, jumping from one subject to another rather quickly.
"Oh, I'm alright. Just a little tired, I guess." Answered Shinji, watching as Rei sat cross-legged in front of him. "What about you?" He asked, wanting to continue the conversation.
"No problems." She replied. Shinji nodded, not sure how to respond to her strange choice of words. It was then that his stomach growled, catching Rei's attention.
"Have you not eaten?" She asked, sounding the tiniest bit concerned. "Yeah, I skipped breakfast today. I'm not feeling well." He said, not really wanting to talk about it.
"Do you feel ill? We have medics in the company." She said, not having truly understood what he meant. "Well, that's not what I meant. I'm just... not over what I saw last night..." Explained Shinji, thinking back to the horrid images.
"What do you mean?" Rei asked, looking lost. "Um, when I slipped onto that puddle of mud, I landed on a decayed corpse. It was all full of maggots, and it really fucked with my head." He said, remembering all the disgusting little details of the rotting carcass.
"Oh, excuse my language..." He added, not sure what she would think of his use of swear words. She didn't react at all, rather she was just thinking about what he had said.
"So it's turmoil that made you skip breakfast?" She asked. This made him feel a little uncomfortable, but he knew that wasn't her intention. "Um... yeah." He sheepishly replied.
"Ikari, we are being sent out to fight an aggressive enemy. Skipping meals will only weaken you." She bluntly stated. Shinji sighed, knowing she was right yet not feeling motivated enough to do it.
"I know... honestly, I don't think I love myself enough to want to care for myself sometimes. I know it's stupid, but I'm not very well. You don't have to worry about that." He said, finally opening up about such a thing to her.
He didn't really think about it, he just said it, forgetting about his anxieties for a second. Of course, he began to regret having said that to her shortly after, but didn't say anything.
"How do you care for others when you care so little about yourself?" She asked. "What?" Shinji asked back, baffled by her blunt nature. "W-What do you mean?"
"When you saved me, you displayed concern for my well-being. Yet, you do not wish to care for yourself by eating a meal?" She asked. Shinji didn't respond for a few seconds, thinking of what to say.
"I- I..." He tried to explain, still thinking of what he could say. Before he could say anything, the company were alerted by the sound of an approaching engine.
Everyone ducked, keeping low to avoid being spotted through a window. Captain Shiro ran over to the front window, looking towards the direction he heard the loud noise coming from.
As the sound got louder, Shiro recognized the engine type. "It's a spinner engine, it might be NERV. Standby, Eagle Company." He said. They all waited as the engine approached their building, their hands on their rifles, ready for action.
Shiro finally saw the vehicle; an extended spinner labeled NERV. Through the front windshield, the co-pilot could be seen signalling to Shiro that they were safe. "At ease! It's a supply drop, we need a few of you down there now." He said.
"Yo, I volunteer!" Yelled Toji, already making his way downstairs. "Shinji! Help me out, yeah?" He asked, not giving Shinji a chance to answer. "Excuse me, Ayanami." He said before getting up and making his way down to the spinner.
He wondered why Toji volunteered so excitedly, since he was never up to do any chores for the company, let alone Unit-01. He didn't pay it much attention, choosing instead to prepare for some heavy lifting with his peers.
Shiro also came down so that he could receive and/or relay messages to the Top. As they all opened the front door of the old post office, the side doors of the spinner opened, revealing crates of supplies for the company.
Shinji and Toji carried the first load, both holding onto a separate handle on each side. The weight indicated this was more ammo, providing Shinji some relief. As they carried it into the building, they set it down by the door.
Toji quickly hurried back to the spinner, as if he was looking for something. He went up to the side door, where his fellow troops carried more crates into the building. Shinji followed behind.
From the spinner, the mailman stepped out carrying a bag full of mail around one arm, and an envelope in his opposite hand. "Letter for Captain Shiro!" He yelled, looking around for a troop with a captain insignia on their uniform.
"Right here! Said Shiro, as he walked over to the man handing out the mail. As the captain went over to pick up his and Eagle Company's mail, Toji was busy looking for someone.
"'Ey, is Pusher on this ride?" He asked to the troops waiting aboard the spinner. One of them looked over at one of the troops sitting in the back of the spinner and reached over to tap their shoulder.
"Pusher! We got a buyer!" He said, immediately getting the boy's attention. The boy stood from his seat and walked closer to Toji, just as he reached into his utility pouch.
"Toji! You're fucking around in Matsuyama as well? Shit, glad to have an old friend of mine in this circulation." He said. "So whatcha want? I'm stocked on the BR-ZRK shots as usual, and I just got a shipment of soothers that are good for sleep. Oh, and 2 vials of NR-VANA." He added.
"Just the usual, man. I'mma need 10 of 'em this time... them skinjobs are gettin' crazier, man!" Replied Toji. "You sure you don't want anything else? These soothers are top-of-the-line shit, my man!" Pusher offered again.
"It's cool man, jus' the shots." Toji said, looking inside his pouch as he counted his money. "Sure thing, Toji. Your total is $100." He said, passing Toji 10 disposable syringes, originally designed to hold morphine inside.
Shinji helped his fellow troops carry a third box in, only having one more to go. He wondered where Toji could have gone, and finally found him just casually talking to some of the guys inside the spinner.
Shinji walked over to Toji's direction, seeing him finally making his way back. He was given something by one of the boys in the aircraft, and he immediately hid it inside his pouch.
"What was all that about, man?" He asked, wondering who all those guys were. "Oh, jus' buyin' me and Kensuke some little goods for the field." He said, in a rather low volume.
Shinji wondered what he meant by that, having picked up on how low-key he was trying to be about it. "What is it?" He asked. Toji looked around, finding there were too many people around to tell him.
"I'll tell ya later, let's jus' help out with the crates for now..." Said Toji, going over to help distribute the goods to every troop in the building. "Well, alright then."
After about half an hour of discussing what an even amount of MREs and additional ammo to give away was, Eagle Company finally came to an agreement when someone did their math and managed to distribute most of it evenly.
As Shinji and Toji went back upstairs, Shinji lightly elbowed Toji on his side. "So? What's that stuff those guys gave you?" He asked, not having forgotten that strange scene.
Toji stopped walking, leading Shinji to do the same. Since they were a reasonable distance away from everybody else, he decided he could tell Shinji the truth. "Alright look, don't tell anyone, but... it's high-potency adrenaline shots." He whispered.
"What the hell? You guys are doing drugs out here? The fuck is wro-" He started, before being interrupted by Toji's light sock to his arm. "Look man, these adrenaline shots do a wonder, alright? I'm jus' trynna live, so judge me all ya want. I'mma fuckin' survive this war." He said.
"Ok, but isn't this dangerous as fuck? What if you're caught? They'll court martial your ass! Or even worse, what if you overdose? We're in a war, there's already plenty of ways for you to die out here!" He said quietly.
"Okay look, y'know that adrenaline rush ya get when yer in a really hairy situation? Feels great, dunnit? These shots are exactly that, jus' stronger and more controllable." He explained.
He pulled two of the syringes out and showed them to Shinji. "This stuff's called BR-ZRK. Makes ya go wack-a-doo in combat, which is exactly what I need out there." Toji went on, having done this stuff many times already.
He dropped them in Shinji's pocket, not wanting to further talk about this, in fear of someone overhearing them. "Here man, have two of these. Not sayin' ya have to take 'em, only if it comes to it." Finished Toji, walking over to Kensuke to give him some of the shots.
He left before Shinji had a chance to give the shots back, annoying him just a little bit. But he didn't follow Toji to give them back, instead choosing to only use them for absolute emergencies.
He thought back to the night of the Angel Camp robbery, when he, Rei and Asuka ran back to Unit-01. His body naturally produced adrenaline, a survival instinct programmed into almost every living thing should they encounter something life-threatening.
Although he was beyond terrified at that moment, he remembered how alive he felt. The blood ran through his veins like battery acid, his body working like some sort of motor.
'If Toji and Kensuke trust these... well, then I should be good, right?' He wondered. He wasn't really sure if this was the right choice or not, but the whole war situation was already desensitizing anyway. Without realizing it, Shinji was slowly drifting from his own morals.
"Attention Eagle Company! We've a direct order from the Top! Commander Ikari is sending us East towards a radio tower, says the Angels who are jamming our signals are up there. We move out at 1200 hours!" Shiro yelled.
"Yes sir!" The company replied. Shinji went back to sit next to Rei, who had been patiently waiting for him to come back. "Sorry for the wait, Ayanami. Had to help the company sort the supplies out." He said.
Rei nodded, not having minded waiting that much at all. Shinji reached into his pocket for the syringes, placing them in his utility pouch. One part of him felt extremely nervous about carrying the performance-enhancing drug, while the other seemed to not want to think about it much
Shinji knew he was changing as a person. He just didn't know whether it was for better or for worse.